Wayne County announced Wednesday that it will build a $553-million justice center as a solution to the long-stalled Gratiot jail project.

County Executive Warren Evans announced a tentative agreement with Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures to build the center, with construction set to begin in October and be completed by spring/summer 2022. It will house a 2,280-bed jail, offices for the sheriff's department, prosecutor's staff, a criminal courthouse and a juvenile detention facility.

The new site, at 1301 E. Warren, is bounded by the I-75 Service Drive and East Warren Avenue is being acquired from the city, according to a news release. The agreement is being submitted Wednesday for approval by the Wayne County Commission and the Wayne County Building Authority, Evans said at a news conference.

"This is a good deal for Wayne County," Evans said. "It's been a long road trying to solve the Gratiot jail fiasco. It's had twists and turns and probably more curveballs than I want to think about."

The location includes land that the Detroit Board of Education voted on Monday to sell, Evans said, but added that it was not a "deal breaker" if they didn't get it. The Detroit Public Schools Community District will be paid $220,000 for the property at 5300-5330 Russell and 1457 Frederick, the Free Press previously reported.

Wayne County will invest $380 million and Rock Ventures is responsible for about $153 million in costs and any cost overruns, and the county and Rock Ventures will share any cost savings, according to the release. The general contractor will be Barton Malow, and the architect is Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc.

In another purchase agreement being submitted to the county commissioners Wednesday, Rock Ventures will purchase the property of the unfinished Gratiot jail for $21.3 million, Deputy County Executive Rick Kaufman said at a news conference Wednesday.

Rock Ventures is responsible for the demolition of the site, Kaufman said. Evans said Rock Ventures expects to begin demolition shortly after the deal is approved, likely in the summer or fall.

Rock Ventures had proposed a $1 billion or more mixed-use urban development project, including a 23,000-seat soccer stadium, on the failed jail site. The soccer stadium idea eventually was scrapped.

"The solution here not only fixes significant mistakes of the past, but at the same time delivers to the county a completely new, ground-up criminal justice center, in addition to resulting in a large, mixed-use development on the former proposed jail site,” Gilbert said in a statement.

Wayne County Commission Chairman Gary Woronchak said in a news release that he is encouraged that an agreement has finally been reached between Rock Ventures and the county.

“The county executive announced a huge step toward replacing outdated jails and courthouse facilities in what could be the best solution for both Wayne County taxpayers and the continued revitalization of downtown," Woronchak said.

Another Commissioner, Raymond Basham, said he was frustrated that commissioners only learned of the plan about a half hour before Evans' news conference.

Rendering of the new Wayne County criminal justice center that will be built at the I-75 Service Drive and East Warren Avenue in Detroit.(Photo: HOK)

"Even if we agree, it should (be) run by the commission first. We should be part of this process, not do a press release and expect us to go along with it," he said.

He added: "There’s a lot of questions. ... I feel like the commission, as a body, has been left out of this process more than we should have been."

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said he's pleased with the plans for the jail and sees it as the "best deal possible" given the circumstances.

The planned jail will have less than the current inmate capacity of 3,000, Napoleon said. He said the average daily inmate population is between 1,600 to 1,700.

"So based upon our current operations, it is more than sufficient to house the number of inmates that we have on a daily basis," Napoleon said. "I would have preferred to have another 3,000-bed facility, but the economics of it just did not work. And I agree with the CEO on the current size of the jail."

The county will use remaining bond proceeds from the Gratiot jail project, bonds for the new site, and general fund revenue to cover its end of the construction costs, according to the statement. The Free Press reported in December that Evans said the Gratiot site, which broke ground in 2011 and was $91 million over its $300-million budget, had “too much inherent risk for the county at too high a price.”

Work stopped on the Gratiot site in June 2013 and plans for it were scrapped in December. The Free Press previously reported that the site has been costing taxpayers about $1.2 million a month in bond payments, storage and security.

"It's just been five years of aggravation for the entire county," Evans said at the news conference, adding: "It's like an anvil's been taken off my neck to be able to get to where we are in this process."

The existing Division I and II jails, the juvenile detention facility, and the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice will be transferred from the county to Rock Ventures and will be leased back to the county for $1 per year until the new jail site is complete and the county has transitioned to the new facility, according to the statement.

Rendering of the new Wayne County criminal justice center that will be built at the I-75 Service Drive and East Warren Avenue in Detroit.(Photo: HOK)

Wayne County will transfer ownership of county parcels where the Division I and II jails, Juvenile Detention Center, and Frank Murphy Hall of Justice sit to Rock Ventures, Evans said at the news conference.

"This will mark the end of our region's most notorious symbol of government failure and allow us to enter a new era of Wayne County government," Evans said. "This has been a long, arduous process and we are still a long way from the finish line. For the first time, however, since construction was suspended in 2013, we have an achievable path forward and the outlook is positive."